FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY NEWS

Franciscan University President to Step Down at End of Academic Year

Father Terence Henry, TOR, looks back with gratitude on “awesome privilege” of serving the mission for 13 years.

January 28, 2013

STEUBENVILLE, OHIO—Franciscan University of Steubenville today
announced that Father Terence Henry, TOR, will leave the office of
president at the end of the academic year in May.

“Being
president of Franciscan University for a single day would have been a
huge honor and one of the most memorable moments in my life, but to have
been entrusted with guiding its mission since 2000 is an awesome
privilege and blessing for which I am thankful to God,” Father Henry
said.

Inaugurated on October 4, 2000, Father Henry succeeded
Father Michael Scanlan, TOR, as the fifth president of the University.
Since then, Father Henry has led Franciscan University through more than
12 years of milestones including the most successful fundraising
campaign in University history, the creation of a new liberal arts core
curriculum, an increase by 389 students in undergraduate enrollment, the
establishment of the Institute of Bioethics, the Catechetical
Institute, and the Center for Leadership, the expansion of campus
acreage to more than double, and the reintroduction of varsity
athletics.

“When I became president, our philosophy and theology
departments were already world renowned, and they have continued to grow
through the founding of our Bioethics Institute and Catechetics
Institute. Now, other academic disciplines have begun attracting
national attention, especially in the sciences with faculty and student
research on seizure disorders and rare diseases,” Father Henry said.
“These priorities emerged as the University asked itself how we could
best serve the needs of the Catholic Church. I am confident that
Franciscan University’s next president will continue to lead from the
heart of the Church.”

Father Nicholas Polichnowski, TOR, chairman
of Franciscan University’s Board of Trustees, explained the timing of
the change saying that within religious life, leaders are rotated
periodically as a matter of course.

“Being a university president
has become an increasingly difficult task. With presidents serving only
six years on average, we are grateful to Father Henry for giving 13
years in generous service to Franciscan University,” Father Polichnowski
said.

Father Polichnowski, the minister provincial of the
Franciscan Friars, TOR, Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,
which founded Franciscan University in 1946, also said the next
president will be chosen from among the priests and brothers of the
139-member province.

“The Board of Trustees will begin the
selection process immediately, and we expect the new president to start
in June. Father Henry will receive his new assignment at that time,”
Father Polichnowski said.

Father Henry, who just returned from
his annual trip to Washington, D.C., for the March for Life, will close
out his tenure with a busy semester including speeches on religious
liberty at two Legatus chapter meetings. He has also accepted an
invitation to give a major address at an international meeting of young
Catholics discussing how to renew society through the Gospel at the
Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

“As I’ve traveled
throughout the world, I frequently hear about the importance of
Franciscan University in the life of the Church and I’ve seen it
firsthand as I’ve met alumni serving in dioceses, parishes, and bringing
their faith into every career and vocation imaginable,” Father Henry
said. “It’s humbling to witness how beautifully they and our faculty,
staff, students, and benefactors live out the Lord’s call to St. Francis
to ‘Go, rebuild my Church.’”

He added, “This University and all
those I’ve worked with and come to know as president have a special
place in my heart. I will carry Franciscan University and all those who
serve its tremendous educational mission in my prayers.”

Franciscan
University integrates excellent academic programs with a dynamic faith
environment to serve more than 2,400 students from all 50 states and 15
countries. It offers more than 40 undergraduate and 7 graduate degree
programs, the most popular of which include theology, catechetics,
nursing, education, and business administration.

Franciscan
University has received a top-tier placement for 12 consecutive years in
U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Best Colleges and is
featured in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine’s top 100 “best
values” in private higher education. Franciscan University is one of
only about two dozen schools listed in The Cardinal Newman Society’s
Guide to Choosing a Catholic College and is in the National Catholic
Register’s Catholic Identity College Guide.

ABOUT FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY

Franciscan University of Steubenville is no ordinary university, and a Franciscan education is no ordinary education. Rather, it's an education as rigorous and demanding as it is faithful--an education that challenges you intellectually, forms you professionally, and feeds you spiritually.